Fees for students increase

Pitt’s Board of Trustees passed resolutions that will increase two student fees —… Pitt’s Board of Trustees passed resolutions that will increase two student fees — effective for the Fall 2006 semester — at their annual meeting last Friday.

Pitt’s Student Affairs Committee recommended that the Board increase the Security, Safety and Transportation Fee from $75 to $90 per term for full- and part-time students attending Pitt’s main campus. In addition, the Board also increased the Computing and Network Services Fee from $130 to $150 per term for full-time students and from $65 to $75 per term for part-time students at all Pitt campuses.

The approximate $5.3 million that Pitt will collect from the Security, Safety and Transportation Fee will pay for the Campus Shuttle System, students’ “Unlimited Access” program with Port Authority and security lighting. The funds from the Computing and Network Services Fee will pay for Pitt’s wireless network, computer labs and distribution of software.

The Board last increased the fees in 2002, but a number of factors have contributed to a need for increased funding.

When Pitt officials established the $75 Safety, Security and Transportation Fee four years ago, they based their decision on a lower estimated level of riders and a fare box rate of $1.60. Since then, Port Authority’s ridership has increased to 5 million annual riders and its fare box rate has risen to $1.75 per rider, according to the Board of Trustees’ agenda.

Bob Grove, a spokesperson for the Port Authority, said Pitt has a multi-year contract with the transit system and will pay the organization $3.3 million for the 2006-07 school year.

Although Grove said that this money will not cover Pitt students’ expenses entirely, he said that the public’s cost for transportation will not cover its expenses entirely either.

“Public transit is not a money-making business,” Grove said.

Instead, Grove said that Port Authority tries to expose public transit to younger students who are unfamiliar with the system. He said that after students leave Pitt, regardless of where they get jobs, they have the potential to become public transit users.

Grove also said that public transit creates freedom for students who want to live in off-campus housing or visit places like the Waterfront and Squirrel Hill without having to worry about gas and parking.

“We certainly understand students’ budgets are limited,” Grove said.

Additionally, Pitt’s Parking, Transportation and Services Department expects ridership on campus shuttles to increase as a result of the new residential halls located on upper campus, according to the Board of Trustees’ agenda.

Approximately $200,000 will pay for security lighting.

Jinx Walton, Pitt’s director of Computing Services and System Development, said that the increase in the Computing and Networking Fee will primarily go to implement and support the wireless network.

Walton also said that Pitt will begin a project to implement wireless in all Pitt buildings on all Pitt campuses on July 1, 2006, and that Pitt hopes to implement the system within two years. Although Walton did not know the specific cost, she said that the price of wireless implementation “will be in the millions.”

“The demand for technology resources continues to increase as the use of technology in higher education becomes more sophisticated,” Walton said. “We continue to provide more services and upgrade existing services. Access to the Internet and PittNet have become critical and anytime/anywhere access is expected.”

Pitt’s Board of Trustees also passed a resolution increasing the Student Activities Fee at Pitt’s Bradford campus from $75 to $85 for all full-time students, effective Fall 2006. According to the Board’s agenda, Bradford’s Student Government Association does not have adequate funding to support its clubs because of an increase in monetary requests and inflation.

Pitt has not made an announcement regarding the new budget.